HAMBURGER EYES

Photo by Alex Martinez

In the NBA, there’s a guy killing right now. His name is James Harden. I am not a huge fan though because while he does kill it in the regular season, he is often choking in the playoffs. Commentators always seem to mention that he has “the greenest light,” meaning that the coach, his team mates, and the whole organization all give him the go ahead to do whatever he wants on the court. For example if he decides to never pass the ball, that’s fine. Or if he happens to miss every single shot in a game, that is fine too.

Most players aren’t allowed this much freedom. That’s because your team would lose if the coach played it this way with an average player.

I guess we are going esoteric today. I got some questions about editing for projects, zines, and books. And usually I can tell that it is their inner coach holding them back saying things like, “You’re not ready for prime time.” I am here to give you the green light. The greenest light. Do whatever it is you want to do and don’t second guess yourself or your talents.

There are 2 main questions when it comes to self publishing.

How much are you willing to spend? Let’s say you want to make 100 copies, you are either going to spend $300, $1200, or $20000. Or somewhere in between.

What is it for? Are you planning on selling it and making money back? Or are you giving it away for promo? Or do you just feel the need to express yourself? Or do want to make something for the homies?

There are no right or wrong answers. But answering these questions will be part of the shaping of the edit. For example, if it is for the homies then running those 2 extra photos of Gary going crazy is fine. But if this project is for showcasing your visions in hopes to find work or other projects, etc. then maybe it doesn’t need any photos of Gary at all.

For me, I want to make something different and cool and I want to make my money back and little more so that I can put out the next one. I envision what my zines and books will look like on someone’s kitchen table. I want it to look odd next to other publishings like newspapers and magazines.

For Hamburger Eyes, I want to showcase a certain style of photography that we all know and love yet doesn’t get that much attention. For my own zines, I want to have fun and be as weird as I wanna be.

Sometimes it is a matter of just making 1 copy. Show it to some people, then work on it some more. Rinse and repeat till you can’t work on it anymore, then make 1000 copies.

Whatever it is you want to do, you now have the green light. Start today.